EU Roam Like at Home Now Covers Moldova and Ukraine: What Businesses Should Review

The European Union's Roam Like at Home regime now extends to Moldova and Ukraine, broadening the area where travellers can use mobile calls, SMS and data at their domestic price. For companies whose staff travel, work in the field or coordinate operations across these markets, the change can make mobile spending more predictable and reduce a familiar source of cross-border friction. The extension was approved by the Council of the EU in July 2025 for application from 2026. The Council's official announcement on the roaming extension confirms that Moldova and Ukraine were set to join the EU roaming area from 1 January 2026. Follow-up EU updates recorded Ukraine's formal accession in Kyiv on 12 January 2026. In practical terms, a customer from an EU country, Moldova or Ukraine can use their domestic mobile plan while roaming in the other participating areas, rather than facing a separate retail roaming tariff. The arrangement is not a blanket promise of unlimited use abroad, however. It operates under the established Roam Like at Home framework, including fair-use policies, sustainability derogations and wholesale roaming charges. What the extension changes for cross-border work For a travelling employee, a mobile connection is part of the working toolkit. Calls with customers, two-factor authentication messages, map and logistics apps, messaging platforms and cloud services can all rely on roaming data. Bringing Moldova and Ukraine into the same roaming area gives businesses a clearer basis for planning those routine costs when staff move between the EU and either country. The change also matters for service consistency. EU communications around the extension stress that roaming customers should receive the same quality of service available at home, including access to technologies such as 4G where those are available under the domestic service. That principle is important for work that depends on stable mobile data, although real-world performance will still depend